Recent content by Thorn

Originally Posted By: MrCritical 28 city, 34 mpg hwy. with 5 speed manual. Thanks. Are these the figures for the 2008 model year? My understanding is that the 2009 redesign receives an all-new 1.5L engine. In addition, I believe the Japanese Fit receives an all-new CVT, but I am not sure if the...

Originally Posted By: Saturn_Fan Driving from LA to WI this week, 2000 Saturn SL I got 45.04 over the 1400 mile trip! That's great. Is this LA to WI as in Los Angeles to Wisconsin or Louisiana to Wisconsin? If it's Los Angeles to Wisconsin (west to east), you may have benefited from a strong...

Soon I will be in the market for a car that gets excellent gas mileage. I found a few short articles on the web about the new 2009 Honda Fit that is supposed to be in the U.S. this fall. Several of the articles indicated that the new Fit achieves a maximum 46 mpg (5.1L/100km) according to the...

Originally Posted By: 1sttruck Traction starts with adequate tires, otherwise it doesn't matter if you have eleventeen wheel drive. Anyone remember WWII footage of tanks sliding off the road ? While doing some winter driving practice with the kids in the older Taurus last year we watched 4WD...

Presently, I drive a 1997 Subaru Legacy AWD sedan with 245k miles, and I was thinking about replacing it with a used 2005 Subaru Outback. I started looking around on an Outback forum, and I noticed that many members there have posted that the 2005+ Outbacks (model years after the last redesign)...

Actually, they are an A/T tire based on Nokian's WR SUV "all-weather" (four season) highway tire. They have a fairly high treadwear rating and a 60,000 mile warranty. Surprisingly, they are reasonably quiet, handle well, and have excellent wet and snow traction so far. You may want to check...

Check out my post on the Nokian Vatiiva. These are 265/65/17 on a 2006 4Runner. Nokian Vatiiva 265/65/17

Was it cold outside that day? Living in the Northeast, it is very common to see cars driving around with a huge, mostly white, plume of exhaust gas during the winter months. For whatever reason (fuel not vaporized, cold exhaust system, etc.), it takes a while for the exhaust to disappear from a...

Yeah, you're right. I should take the word of some anonymous fellow that I just met on the Internet instead. Just kidding. I am aware that many manuals, including vehicle manuals, are often outdated and/or otherwise misinformed. It's just that the approval of syn in one area and the...

Originally Posted By: Mike_dup1 I have Amsoil synthetic gear lube in my 1999 13hp Ariens since new and have used in all of them back to 1975ish. None have failed. So any company that says not to use synthetic got its head in the sand in my opinion. Thats like saying don't use radial tires if...

I don't know why, but the owner's manual for my several year old Toro specifically warns against using synthetic gear oil in my gearbox. I think it calls for 80w-90.

I would strongly recommend that you consider Nokian snow tires. Check out this link to their website showing the tires that are available in your size. Nokian 225/45/17

Originally Posted By: wantin150 What year Toyota? My 08 Scion has a TPMS which you can "calibrate" by pressing a switch. If you add air to the tires, you calibrate the system with the new pressures. Same process to do after a tire rotation. It's a 2006 4Runner. The TPMS has been the topic of a...

Thanks. You're close. It's 265/65/17 on a 7.5" wheel. I don't believe I can reset the monitor, and I am not sure that a dealer can either. Regardless, the Toyota dealer charged my tire dealer $170 several months ago just to "reprogram" the TPMS monitors when one of the tire dealer's employees...

Originally Posted By: CrazyMike Lookin' good! What psi are you running by the way, Vativas are soft, too much you'll wear out the centers in no time. Thanks. After reading your post, I went outside and checked the pressure. Three tires were at 28 lbs. and one was at 29 lbs. (all checked when...